Prefer a video version of my newsletter?
The holidays are approaching and over the years I have learned a few tips that help women navigate them with less stress and better health. Before you roll your eyes – this won’t be an article about how you can enjoy the holidays and have less stress if you would just eat perfectly, sleep perfectly, avoid too much alcohol and otherwise live on a different planet during the holidays. Instead let’s look at some more “holiday friendly” solutions.
I love the holidays as much as any giddy toddler. Bright lights, music, shopping, presents, fabulous food, friends and parties! What’s not to love. The problem is most years I have a meltdown (also like a toddler) as I try to orchestrate the impossible combination of responsibilities and tasks that come with all that good cheer. I must say it has always helped to know that I am not alone. Almost like clockwork, my phone used to ring off the hook during the holidays. So many women would call with symptoms of being overwhelmed. It seemed all my patients wanted for the Holidays – was a little Xanax. Obviously, I understood where they were coming from, but I encouraged them to implement the 4 holiday tips that I will outline below.
Before I get to the tips, let me take a moment to highlight how stress can impact your health. The stress hormones are major (survival) hormones that impact almost all aspects of health. When you’re stressed and overproducing adrenal hormones your moods can become labile, your sleep disrupted, your immune system impaired and to add insult to injury stress increases your chances of gaining weight. That’s just the short-term effects. If you continue to over-produce the stress hormones, you will begin to experience accelerated aging (thinning skin and hair, reduced brain function, etc.) as your body slowly whittles away at its reserves. Stress even interferes with your thyroid and ovarian hormones. All this can certainly derail your holiday experience – so on to the tips.
TIP #1 – Pick & Choose
You can only do so much during the holidays, so have a schedule and stick to it. I buy a pretty little calendar and carefully plan out what I can and cannot do. Some activities are priorities for me and some are optional. I am choosy about what ends up on my schedule. If I can’t fit an event into my schedule, I send a gift or note expressing my well wishes. Let me take some of your stress away and make this part easy. SCRIPT FOR THE HOLIDAYS – “I would love to do ______, but for my health, Dr. Smith has recommended that I limit my schedule”.
TIP #2 – Schedule “Me” Time
A woman can never relax at home. You’re going to be “overutilized” by your family during the holidays, so why not schedule a little me time into your holiday calendar. My holidays always start out well enough. I’m in control and feeling great, but as the days pass, I feel like my body is beginning to keep time to that rushing CRESCENDO in my favorite Christmas song Carol of the Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. As I have stated, I know I am not alone since invariably my patients would experience the same thing. This year before your holidays descend into this chaos I recommend you put a little “me time” on your calendar. HINT – I take time for myself during the holidays by saying to my family -“I’m going shopping for Christmas presents”. My family would happily give me that time while visions of goodies to be bestowed on them danced in their heads.
TIP #3 – The 80/20 Rule
You can’t be spontaneous and live life fully if you’re on a regime 100% of the time.
For your health it is important for you to enjoy and embrace the holidays. However – I must add the obvious. You really do have to eat healthy if you want to look good and feel good during the holidays. Overconsumption is a mental and physical stress that we all know too well! Since perfection is not the goal I try to be good 80% of the time. To accomplish this I like to think ahead and decide what foods are truly WORTHY during the holidays ( such as that special treat your mother makes once a year). I then decide to pass on the endless parade of other goodies (such as the sugar cookie I could get anytime of the year). This limits my intake but also helps me fully enjoy the special treats I do consume.
TIP #4 – Give
Give more than you get during the holidays. I have seen women under great stress avoid the ill effects of that stress by simply implementing this joyful tip. We have talked about keeping your mind and body healthy during the holidays but to be truly healthy you also need to keep your spirit healthy. Luckily, to accomplish this you don’t even have to over schedule yourself. Volunteering is very good for the soul but it can be as simple as contributing to a charity. However you choose to give back – it is a great way to bolster your health during the holidays.
HEALTH YOURSELF ACTION – IMPLEMENT THESE 4 HOLIDAY TIPS
- TIP #1: Pick & choose – don’t overschedule yourself.
- TIP #2 Schedule “me” time – this is necessary for your success so don’t skip it.
- TIP #3: The 80/20 rule – plan what food is “WORTHY”.
- TIP #4: Give – your overall health will benefit.
TRUE CONFESSION -Despite all my good intentions and the planning I do for my holiday success I can still have what feel like “out of control” days during the holidays. On those days, I use Wholescripts – Xymogen RelaxMax one scoop 1-2 times daily (I actually keep some in my purse). This supplement contains several calming/balancing nutrients and can be mixed into water/beverage for a little help when needed. Maybe it’s the placebo effect, but knowing I have a supplement available that can help me on those rough days actually lowers my stress.
HAPPIEST OF HOLIDAYS TO YOU,
Dr Brenda Smith
